Roseberry Topping from Guisborough
A summit with a genuinely unusual profile - half sharp peak, half sheared-off cliff face - that Captain Cook is said to have climbed as a boy from the village right below it.
Effort: Good distance, solid climb
Underfoot: Some uneven or off-path ground
E3·T2 — how we grade routesA 17.3km loop from Guisborough climbing Roseberry Topping, the distinctive collapsed peak known locally as Yorkshire's Matterhorn, with 334m of climbing through forest and open moor.
A summit with a genuinely unusual profile - half sharp peak, half sheared-off cliff face - that Captain Cook is said to have climbed as a boy from the village right below it.
The route
Roseberry Topping's shape is the whole story here - a small, sharply pointed hill with one side collapsed into a near-vertical cliff, the result of old ironstone and alum workings undermining the summit in the 1900s. It's often called Yorkshire's Matterhorn, which oversells the scale but not the drama of the silhouette against the flat Tees lowlands. This route climbs from Guisborough through forest before crossing open moor to the final approach.
The summit
The last stretch to the top is steep and rocky, more of a scramble than a run, and worth taking slowly, especially descending in wet conditions when the worn rock gets genuinely slippery. From the top, the view stretches from the North Sea to the Cleveland Hills, and locally the hill has a real claim to fame: a young James Cook, later the famous explorer, is said to have climbed it often as a boy from nearby Great Ayton village.
Why it works
At 17.3km with 514m of ascent, this route uses the approach from Guisborough rather than the shorter, busier path from Newton under Roseberry, giving you more genuine trail and forest running before the short, sharp finish. It's a good moderate day with a properly distinctive summit as the payoff.
Getting there
The Newton under Roseberry car park is the more popular start if you want the shortest route to the top, but starting from Guisborough gives a longer, quieter approach through Guisborough Woods, with the added bonus of passing the ruins of Guisborough Priory on the way out of town. Great Ayton, a few kilometres beyond Newton under Roseberry, makes a good extension if you want to add more distance and see more of the wider Cook family connections to this quiet stretch of North Yorkshire countryside.
The final approach to the summit is steep, rocky and worn smooth in places - take real care descending when wet. Exposed top in wind.
Safety on this route
- No signal? Text 999 — pre-register first: text register to 999
- Tell someone your route and expected return time before you head out
Leave No Trace
- Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories.
- Please respect the countryside and all its inhabitants.
- Dogs on leads near livestock, and around ground-nesting birds from March to July.
- Gates as you find them — open or closed, leave it that way for the farmer and the next runner.
- Take it all home — wrappers, peel, tissue, the lot. It doesn't count as biodegradable if you can still see it.
- Stick to the path where the ground either side is wet, planted, or nesting habitat.
Common questions
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